Hakka are one of the main Chinese cultural groups in southern coastal China together with the Hokkien, Cantonese, and Hailufeng (“Hok Lo”) of the Chaozhou-Shantou regions. According to Prof. Lo Hsiang-lin, the Hakka originally came from northern China and migrated to the south through several waves of migration over the past two millennia. As a result, they have preserved archaic aspects of Chinese culture from the Central Plains, such as their spoken dialect, unicorn worship, and lineage-based social organization. On the other hand, the name “Hakka” is relatively recent, having been coined in the early Qing dynasty as they migrated from their adopted home in the Wuyi mountains where Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi provinces converge. It was in origin a label the “native” communities used to describe “outsiders” (their name literally means “guest people”) who were just then moving into their territories.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties southern China was infested by social violence. Embattled by coastal disturbances, bandits, as well as continuous armed conflict between militarized villages competing for scarce land and water resources, the Hakka’s early social history was characterized by endemic conflict. The popularity of martial arts among the Hakka was, therefore, due largely to the need for survival in this chaotic and violent social milieu.

After over three hundred years of development, Hakka kung fu became one of the most distinctive and important martial art systems in southern China.